Everything
by Nyneve
Summary: One-shot sequel to "I Never Said I Loved Her Ami risks it all when she sees a face from her past. She didn't know she was putting herself, her mother, and her friends in danger for it. What's stronger? Determined hate, or despairing love?


Everything

Author:  Nyneve

Okay everyone.  I've decided to do something nice and write a sequel to "I Never Said I Loved Her".  Wasn't that nice?  I'm so nice…excuse me.  *runs over baby animal with car*  Yay!  Fun!  What was I saying?  Oh yeah, SEQUEL TIME!!!!  Just so that everyone gets this straight, remember that Duo never heard Ami say she loved him, and he thinks that she's probably dead at the hands of the Alliance.  Meanwhile, Ami's convinced that Duo made it to Earth all right, and has gone to Earth herself after…ah, just read the  ficcie.  Don't own the anime!

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"_How does my bounteous sister?  Go with me, to bless this twain, that they may prosperous be, and honour'd in their issue.  Honour, riches, marriage-blessing, long continuance, and increasing, hour joys be upon you!  Juno sings her blessings on you._"

Ami exhaled as she finished her long speech.  A few people applauded, but that didn't cover the awkward silence substituting the next speaker.  Finally, the teacher couldn't take it any more.

"TSUKINO!  WAKE UP!" she yelled.  The blond playing Ceres sniffed in her sleep and rolled over, oblivious to the angry teacher.

"If you'll allow me, ma'am," Minako replied, leaning over next to Usagi.  "Usagi, it's lunch time."

"GAH!" Usagi's eyes flew open.  "Finally…"

She paused, realizing from the teacher's annoyed look and the clock that it was a false alarm.  

"That was mean!" 

"MISS TSUKINO!  WILL YOU JUST READ THE SCRIPT PLEASE?!?!?!" The teacher yelled.

"Oh yeah…who am I again?"  Usagi asked.

The teacher was about to start screaming again when the bell rang.  Clenching her teeth, she handed Usagi the pink DETENTION slip, then walked out.

"Not again Usagi-chan!  You've already missed the last five study sessions because of detention!" Minako scolded lightly as they headed down the hall.

"It's not my fault!" she protested.

"Tell that to Rei-chan," Makoto muttered.

Ami sighed.  Things just hadn't been going well.  Usagi was getting in more trouble than usual, exams were coming up, and the overall political situation between the Earth and colonies was getting worse.  The only good thing was that there seemed to be a lack of youma.  Of course, that left more time for them to worry about other things.

"Hello!  Earth to Ami-chan!" Usagi said, popping up and interrupting her thoughts.

"What?" she asked.

"I said, did you hear about the battle in Antarctica last week?  That guy from OZ and one of those Gundam pilots were fighting it out!" she replied.

"Oh yeah!  Zechs Marquise and the Wing Gundam, wasn't it?  They say the pilot's name is Heero Yuy, just like that colonial leader who got assassinated back in 175," Minako gossiped.

"Hm…come to think of it, I did hear something…" Ami began, but was cut off by the warning bell.  "Better go.  I've got PE."

"'Kay.  Let's meet up afterwards and go to Rei's together," Makoto suggested.  "See you then!"

"Later!" Minako agreed, dashing off to biology.

"Mako?  You'll wait for me, won't you?  WON'T YOU?  Bye Ami," Usagi cried quickly, dashing off after Makoto.

**************************************************************************************************************************

Duo yawned and stretched as he walked down the street.  "Man, it's too early for this!"

"Duo, it's 2:00 in the afternoon," Quatre pointed out.

"Your point?"

"Stop whining Maxwell," Wufei snapped.  The three were headed for the "Azabu Grand Hotel", where they could prepare for the raid on a nearby OZ intelligence base.  Later, they would take the Gundams and go off to space.

Quatre sighed and closed his eyes as Duo unleashed his fury of annoying talents, hoping to provoke Wufei into…something.  However, his taunts were cut off by a high-pitched wail.  

"What the hell…?" Duo turned to look backwards at the high school behind him.  A short blond girl in pigtails dashed out the gates.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DITCHED ME!!!!  YOU GUYS!!!!  WAIT UP!!!!" She screamed, running past them.  Or rather, that was what she was aiming at.  Instead, she ended up colliding into Wufei and bringing both of them down onto the concrete.

"Sorry…" she said quickly, trying to stand up and failing.

"Baka onna…watch where you're going next time!" Wufei snapped, standing up and brushing himself off.

Quatre reached out his hand to help her up.  "Forgive him.  Is something wrong?"

"My best friends left me behind!  But I see them way up there.  It's okay.  Bye!" she replied, taking off again.  She only managed to fall twice before blending in with a small group of girls up ahead.  Although the pilots were too far away to make out their features, they could still hear the blond's hysterical wails.

"MAKO-CHAN!  MINA-CHAN!  AMI-CHAN!  I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LEFT ME BEHIND LIKE THAT!" 

Duo stopped breathing for a minute.  Did that girl just call one of her friends _Ami_?

"What's with you, Maxwell?" Wufei asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head.  "Nothing.  Just thought I heard something."  

It was time to get over Ami.  Was it really only three years ago that she helped him escape, only for him to meet Professor G and get involved with the Gundams?  He didn't really think about it often.  There was no doubt she'd been caught by the Alliance, and maybe even killed.  Besides, there _were _a lot of girls named Ami out there…

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"You're sure you don't wanna stay Ami?" Rei asked as her friend was leaving.  The others had decided to "study late", meaning they were going to order pizza and sleep over.

"Yeah, I've got some work to do at home.  Mom wants me back for dinner," she lied.

"All right then…see you tomorrow, right?  Saturday shopping?" Usagi asked.

Ami smiled.  "Of course, Usagi-chan.  I'll meet you at your house at 8:00."

"If she's awake by then," Makoto grinned. "Then comes the difficulty of getting Mina-chan up."

"See you in the morning!" Ami called as she walked out.  

Once she was far enough away from the shrine, she let out a breath.  Lately, she'd been feeling very anxious.  She assumed it was because of the war.  The war that drove her from her home on L2, the war that ruined her mother's career, and the war that took away the boy she'd fallen in love with.  

Ami hadn't seen Duo since that day, a little over three years ago when they had planned to escape to Earth together.  But after getting caught, Duo was the only one to escape.  Ami shivered as she remembered the questioning she'd gone through from the Alliance.  Yet she was still proud that they never got any information on him.  At least, nothing from her.  

"I need to stop thinking about him.  It's wearing me out," Ami concluded.

She began to hum softly, mostly out of nervousness.  Being out alone at night made her a little jumpy, but she just didn't feel like spending the night with her friends.

Suddenly, a car revved its engine and pulled out of the parking lot of the Azabu Grand Hotel.  Ami barely managed to jump out of the way.  The car's windows were rolled down, and she heard someone inside say, "Duo!  You nearly hit that girl!"

She froze.  Duo?

Standing up quickly, she just managed to see the driver, a young man wearing sunglasses and a long braid.  

"It can't be…" she murmured.  Nevertheless, she began to run after the car.

She followed it just long enough to see it park in the parking lot of a closed convenience store.  Darting behind a garbage can, she waited in the dark.  Three young men stepped out of the car.  A Chinese boy dressed in white climbed out the passenger's side, a pale boy with blond hair and blue eyes stepped out of the backseat, and out of the driver's side…

"Duo…" Ami whispered, recognizing him at once.  He had barely changed in three years.  He was taller and his muscles were well toned, but he still had that little boy charm on his face.  

"So, let's go over the plan one more time, Q-man," Duo said, turning to the blond boy.

"We enter the base together.  Wufei keeps the guards busy while you and I slip past through the air ducts.  Once we get into the main control center, you get out and destroy as much as you can.  I'll pick up the files regarding Treize's whereabouts.  We have forty-five minutes at the most," he explained.

Ami glanced around, then her eyes locked on the office building at the end of the block.  There were rumors that it was owned by OZ, and was the center of their intelligence.  She bit her lip.  It sounded like Duo and his two companions were planning to break in.

"He never learns…" she whispered, then stood up when they were at the end of the block and entering the building.  Quietly, she approached, watching through the windows as the Chinese boy fought with the six armed guards.  He looked like he was winning at first, then one of them pulled a gun and fired.  The Chinese boy fell to the ground.

"Now then, for the other two…" one of the guards began.

"I don't think so," Ami murmured.  "Mercury Planet Power!  Makeup!"

There was a blinding flash of light as she transformed.  Sure enough, it lured out the guards.

"What the hell is going on out here?" one of them cried, looking at her.  "Who are you?"

"Shabon Spray!" A thick fog filled the area.  Ignoring the shouts of the guards, Ami dropped down her goggles and headed down the hall.  Downloading maps of the building as she ran, she managed to find the main computer area.  Sitting at a screen in the corner was the blond boy.

"Where's Duo?" she cried, startling him.

He pulled a gun.  "Forgive me, but…"

"I'm not with OZ!  Please, there are reinforcements on the way.  Your friend is hurt badly, and I only managed to confuse the guards.  They're coming closer, you have to get out!" Ami said.

The boy stood up, sliding a disk into his jacket pocket.  "If I help Wufei, can you find Duo?  I'm not sure how you know him, but…"

"Don't worry.   Take the air ducts again, the halls are foggy and hard to get through.  I'll find him," she said, turning to leave.

"Wait!  Who are you?" he cried.

Ami hesitated before answering.  "Sailor Mercury.  Don't worry, I'm an ally."

With that, she ran.

**************************************************************************************************************************

Duo grinned as he watched the South Wing explode.  With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he turned quickly, ready to make a break for it.  Unfortunately, someone else was readier [AN:  Is that a word?].

Before he could dodge it, a heavily muscled guard threw a punch to his jaw.  Duo staggered backwards into a wall.  Wiping the blood from his mouth, he pulled a gun.

"Thought Wufei was supposed to be taking care of you guys," he muttered, pulling back on the trigger.  But before the bullet could be released, another gunshot went off and got his hand, making him drop the gun.

"Guess what kid.  You're outnumbered," replied the armed guard, stepping out with a few more at her back.

"Damn it…" Duo cursed under his breath as another blow from the muscular man landed in his stomach.  However, as he crumpled, there was a blast of icy wind.

"Leave him alone!" yelled a feminine voice.  He looked up but found there was fog everywhere.  A shadowy figure fell from the ceiling.

"Now what's goi—"

"ICE BLAST!"

There was a rushing sound of water and a few cutoff gasps.    He felt a pair of gloved hands help him up.

"Are you okay?" the voice asked.  Duo blinked at the familiarity of it.  He'd definitely heard it somewhere before, but he had no idea where.

"Yeah, thanks…" he squinted as the fog cleared.  The shadowy figure was revealed to be a frail-looking young woman a head shorter than him.  A pair of goggles covered half of her face, but again, the cut of her blue hair was painfully familiar.

"Duo?  Do you recognize me?" she asked quietly.

"Almost…Oh my God.  _Ami_?" he cried as she removed the goggles and looked up at him.  Tears were gathering in her blue eyes.

"Duo…" she whispered, throwing herself into his arms.

Still shaking his head in disbelief, he held her closely.  "How did you get here?  I thought you were dead!  Didn't the Alliance get you?"

"They got me.  But I couldn't let them kill me.  I need to live.  To see you again…" she sobbed.

Suddenly, Quatre appeared at the end of the hall, an annoyed and bloody Wufei right behind him.  "Duo?  Come on!  We've got to get out of here!"

Ami looked up.  "Wait.  I know where we can go.  Follow me."

After a few quizzical stares, the three boys followed her out to their car.  As they got in, she gave out a set of directions.

"Take this street four blocks, then turn left.  Go down that street until you get to the OSAP jewelry store.  Take a right there, then six blocks down is my apartment.  You can hide out there for the night," she said, settling back in the backseat next to Duo.  Quatre was driving, since he was the only one unharmed, and Wufei kept turning back to look at her.

"Maxwell, care to explain how we found you with…her, in your arms?" he asked annoyed.

"Her name's Ami, Wu-man.  And she just saved my life," Duo replied matter-of-factly.

"Not only yours.  She was the one who warned us that reinforcements were on the way.  And you used your p—" Quatre stopped, blushing slightly.

Ami smiled weakly.  "It's okay.  They are powers, you can say it.  But it's a long story I don't really feel like telling right now."

A few minutes later, they were inside Ami's dark apartment.  She frowned slightly.

"Mother isn't home yet I see…" she said.  "I was hoping she could take a look at the two of you.  She's a doctor."

"Best one in the universe too," Duo added, remembering the kindness Dr. Mizuno had shown him.

"Well, I we've got some bandages in the pantry.  I'll do the best I can," she remarked, then turned around shyly.  "That is, if you'll allow me.  I'm not a real doctor…"

"That's okay!  I put my life in your hands!" Duo replied dramatically.

Wufei rolled his eyes.  "I suppose there's no other choice…"

Seven bandages, two bottles of peroxide, and thirty-seven tortured screams later, both Duo and Wufei were treated and bandaged.

"Miss Mizuno, we can't thank you enough for your kind hospitality but…you are in danger by helping us," Quatre said gently as Ami set a cup of tea in front of him.

She turned away.  "I've been in danger for the last three years."

Everyone was silent for a few moments, then Ami sighed and walked down the hall to the linen closet.  "Let's see, where do you guys want to sleep?  There's the couch, and my study…"

"COUCH!  I CALLED IT!" Duo cried, making Ami burst into hysterical giggles, Wufei roll his eyes, and Quatre grin amusedly.

"All right Duo, you can have the couch.  I've got a few sleeping bags and two air mattresses for the two of you if you don't mind the floor," she offered.

"It'll be fine, Miss Mizuno," Quatre accepted politely.

"Please, call me Ami," Ami requested as she laid out the beds in her study.

"Yes, well…I think it would be best to try and sleep," Quatre said finally, glancing sideways at Wufei.  The Chinese boy rolled his eyes and followed his friend into the study.  

Meanwhile, Duo stood up and slipped his arm around Ami's waist.  "So, how've you been?"

She blushed slightly.  "Busy…very busy."

"You mind explaining how you got those powers?" he asked.

She paused, and looked at him seriously.  "Duo, you have to promise not to tell _anyone_.  I'll tell your friends in the morning, but that's it.  It's a huge secret, and if anyone found out, we'll have more than _this_ war on our hands."

"What are you talking about?" Duo pressed on.

"Promise me you won't repeat what I say," she said again.

He sighed.  "Okay, okay, I promise!"

Ami smiled, clearly satisfied.  "Anyways, it all began a long time ago on the moon…"

And so, she went on to explain about everything that had happened to her since that fateful day she met Usagi.  When she finished, she couldn't quite tell whether Duo believed her or not.

"Wow…are you joking?" he cried incredulously.

"No," Ami replied, destransforming into her civilian clothing.  She couldn't help but smile at how huge Duo's eyes had gotten.

"But that's my story.  You can choose to believe it or not, if you want," she finished.

"Oh I believe you…could you do that again?" he asked.

Giggling, she patted his arm.  "You've had enough.  Now then, you wanna tell me what you've been doing?"

He shook his head and blinked, returning to full consciousness.  "Only if you promise not to say a word to anyone that I told you.  This is top-secret information.  Those guys tonight probably would've killed you for it."

She shivered.  "I promise.  This is just between you and me."

"Yeah.  Especially since, well, you could've gotten involved.  See, there was this guy on that Sweeper's Cruiser we were trying to board…"

A few minutes later, Ami blinked.  "_You're a Gundam pilot?_"

"Yep.  Number 02, Deathscythe Hell," he answered.  "Guess those revolutionary tendencies in me were a little stronger than you thought."

"Only a little," she murmured turning away.  "It's only been three years.  But we've both changed so much."

Duo sighed.  He didn't like the tone she'd taken.  "Come on Ami!  At least we found each other again!  You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"Just as much as I've missed you.  But I can't help thinking what would happen if our worlds collided," she murmured, staring out the window at the cold night.  It was way past midnight.

"I'll tell you what'd happen," Duo said, draping his arms around her neck.  "We'd face it down, just like we did before.  You know, I never thanked you for saving my life that day."

Before she realized what was happening, Ami found her lips locked with Duo's.  Closing her eyes, she just let every bit of his pain dissolve into the chill air.

When he finally pulled away, he was grinning again.  "I wanted to do that a long time ago, but your mom was always there to catch me."

"And I caught you again," a smug voice replied.  

"Oh…Mother…hi.  I brought home company," Ami replied slowly, removing Duo's arms from her shoulders.

"Dr. Mizuno!  How good to see you!" Duo cried quickly, stepping away from her quickly.

However, Dr. Mizuno was smiling.  "I was wondering whatever happened to you Duo.  I should've known when I found you you'd be in the arms of my daughter."  With that, she embraced him tightly.  "I'm glad you're all right.  But Ami, you might want to warn me the next time you bring home "company".  Is there anyone else I should know about?"

"Duo's friends, Quatre and Wufei.  They're in the study," she muttered guiltily.  

"I see…you know, there was a raid down at the OZ intelligence base.  They say it was three of the Gundam pilots," Dr. Mizuno's eyes moved from the door of the study to Duo.  "That's why I was late.  I was stopped on the way home."

"Mother I—"

"Get them out after I leave tomorrow.  I never saw any of them.  And neither did you," Dr. Mizuno said firmly.  "Goodnight, Ami."

She turned and went into her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

**************************************************************************************************************************

"So, Ami.  What time does your mom leave for work?" Duo asked.  They were sitting in the study, where Ami had decided it would be best to stay out of her mother's way.

"Four o'clock.  She wants to leave earlier today though.  She has to run some errands," she explained.  "We can be out of here by one."

"We can't thank you enough for doing this, Ami," Quatre said.

"Quatre, the first thousand times was enough," she smiled.  Suddenly, the phone rang.  "Excuse me."

Walking over to the phone, she picked it up.  "Mizuno residence, Ami here."

"AMI!  WHERE ARE YOU?" screamed the shrill voice at the other end.

"Usagi?  I'm at home," she replied calmly.

"You're supposed to pick me up!" Usagi cried.

Ami paled.  She completely forgot about going shopping with the girls.  "I'm sorry Usagi.  Something came up…um, company."

"Can't you ditch them?" Usagi asked.  "There's a huge sale at Old Navy!"

"I'll have to give you a rain check Usagi-chan.  It's really important that I stay home.  We'll go tomorrow, okay?" Ami offered.  "I'll even buy you ice cream!"

Usagi paused to ponder on this.  "Fine," she said softly, then the concern became audible.  "Ami?  Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay Usagi-chan," Ami replied.

"Because you've been acting really weird. I mean, first you space out.  Then you don't want to sleep over.  And now you "forget" about shopping?"  Usagi asked.  

"I've just been busy.  Really, I'm fine.  I'll see you tomorrow Usagi-chan," Ami said.

"All right then.  Bye Ami."

"Goodbye."

She turned to look back at the boys sitting on her floor.  "Just a friend of mine.  Nothing big."

"Tell me, does she always scream like that?" Wufei muttered.

"No.  But she can be quite loud, can't she?" Ami smiled.

"She seems to be worried about you though," Quatre pointed out.

"Usagi is very protective of her friends.  Once she—" There was a knock on the door.  Freezing, she motioned for the boys to hide in the only available spot:  the cramped closet.

Standing up, she headed out into the living room and watched as her mother warily opened the door.  However, once she did, a blond, pigtailed person flew in.

"Hi Dr. Mizuno!  Where's Ami?  Oh, there she is!  Hi Ami!" Usagi cried, running over.  She was followed by Rei, Makoto, and Minako.

"Usagi?  I just got off the phone with you!  How'd you get her so quickly?" Ami asked.

The four girls smiled sheepishly.  "Well, we were worried about you, so we came over and called from the payphone in the lobby.  When we realized you were acting strange, we decided to come up and have a look," Minako replied.

"You guys…that was really sweet," Ami replied.  "But you should really go."

"Hey, where's your company?" Usagi asked, looking around.  The couch had a blanket on it, but other than that, there was no sign that anyone had been there.

"Um…they…uh…" Ami stammered, searching for an excuse.

"Hey, you guys hear that?" Makoto asked, looking around.

Dr. Mizuno suddenly stepped out from her bedroom.  "Ami, I'm going to run errands then I'm going to work.  I'll be home by eleven.  Have fun girls!" she replied, then darted out the door.

Meanwhile, Makoto had walked into the study.  She was studying the mattresses and sleeping bags on the floor.  "Ami?  What's this stuff?"

"Oh…that's where they slept…" she said, backing up against the closet.

"You're hiding something from us, aren't you Ami?" Rei asked dangerously quiet.  She narrowed her eyes, gently moved Ami aside from the door, and threw it open.

"Wait!  I can explain!" Ami began, then stopped, when she realized there was nothing there.

"Explain what?" Minako replied.  

"Explain…my essay on heart disease!" She lied quickly, pulling out the report from the shelf in her closet.  

The others groaned.  "Aw...come on Ami."

"No?  Okay then," she smiled, putting it back.  "Really you guys, you go have fun.  I have to wait for everyone to get back, so you go ahead and go shopping.  I'll come tomorrow."

"All right…but we're watching you missy!" Usagi said, as they left the room.  Ami sighed in relief as she heard the door to the apartment close.  

"Are they gone Ami?" she heard Duo ask.

"Yeah, they're gone," she said, then laughed as they moved out from behind the rows of clothing in her closet.

"That was too close…" Quatre commented.

"Your friends can't seem to mind their own business, can they?" Wufei added.

Suddenly, the door opened as Minako entered, pointing an accusing finger.  "AHA!  I KNEW THEY WERE HIDING!"

The other girls entered.  

Makoto stared in disbelief.  "_Ami was hiding guys in her study?_"

"I'd expect it from Mina-chan, but not from you Ami!" Rei cried.

"Wow, they're really cute," Minako and Usagi commented.

"Listen you guys, it's not what it looks like…" Ami began.

"Yeah!  Or else…actually, it kinda is," Duo pointed out, causing Ami to turn quite red.

"No!  Ami was just helping us out, we needed a place to stay for the night, and she was kind enough to let us stay here," Quatre explained.

"Wait, don't I know you?" Makoto asked, studying Quatre closely.  "You're that Winner guy!"

Rei raised an eyebrow suspiciously.  "You know, there's rumors that you're with those Gundam pilots…"

"Yeah!  And three of them were said leaving the OZ Intelligence base last night with a woman in…"

The four girls froze, then looked at Ami.

"Ami-chan?  Can we speak to you privately?" Makoto asked, her voice as cold as the ice Ami used.

"…Yes…" she answered, then glanced back at the confused boys behind her.  "This'll take only a few minutes."

As they stepped out, Duo immediately moved to the door to hear what they were saying.

"Ami!  The Gundam pilots were said to have been leaving with a woman in a blue Sailor Suit!   Then the guards said that she used special powers to disable them!" Makoto cried.

"Are you suggesting that I helped them, and that the pilots are the three in there?" Ami's voice asked meekly.

"YES!" four others chorused.

"You're right," she practically whispered.

"No way!  I was right?  Cool!" Usagi cried triumphantly.

"Ami, those Gundam pilots are dangerous!  They could've killed you!" Rei yelled.

Suddenly, Duo stepped out.  When he realized Ami was crying, he gently put his arms around her.  "Excuse me, but Ami saved our lives.  We may kill people, but I'm not the sort of guy who does that to a girl he cares about."

The sound of Makoto's cracking knuckles was deafening.  "I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you."

"Mako-chan, please," Ami whispered, shrinking even further into Duo's arms.  "You can trust him.  Quatre and Wufei too."

"I don't know," Rei murmured

"Aw, come on you guys!  How many times do I gotta tell you!  Put your faith in the power of true love!" Usagi cried dramatically, stepping in front of Duo and Ami.  "Besides, Ami's a genius and she's never wrong.  And even if by some weird coincidence she wasn't, we could take care of them, couldn't we?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Minako said, still not convinced.

Just then, there was the sound of breaking glass, followed by gunfire.  Quatre and Wufei backed out of the study.

"If you the weakling onna is finished talking, we've got company!" Wufei snapped.

"WHAT?!?!?  I'LL GIVE YOU WEAKLING ONNA!" Minako screamed, holding up her hand.  "VENUS PLANET POWER!"

"JUPITER PLANET POWER!"

'MARS PLANET POWER!"

"MOON COSMIC POWER!"

"MERCURY PLANET POWER!"

"MAKE-UP!"

There was a flurry of blinding lights as the five girls transformed.  Moments later, the five inner Senshi stood in their place.  

Usagi opened her mouth to make some sort of speech, but was cut off by the sound of gunfire.  Losing her nerve, she cowered beneath the table.

"SAILOR MOON!!!!!!!!" Ami cried, rolling her eyes, then taking a defensive maneuver as the OZ soldiers fought to get through the window.

Meanwhile, the three pilots were amazed at the sight of the girls transforming, but quickly returned their attention to the attack.  They fired as quickly as possible, but after they saw a wave of fire consume the soldiers, they froze.

"One dozen barbecued bastards, courtesy of Sailor Mars," Rei grinned.  

"Yeah yeah…Mercury, you and the guys get out of here," Makoto ordered.

"We're not leaving until this is over!" Quatre cried defiantly.

"Oh, it's over.  Believe me," Minako replied, then unleashed her love chains.

"Mars!  Can we hide at the shrine?" Ami asked.

"Yeah…we'll meet up with you later!  Now move it!" 

**************************************************************************************************************************

That afternoon, the Senshi and Gundam pilots sat in Rei's room.  The battle was won, but Ami's apartment was destroyed.  

"We're really sorry we made such a mess Ami.  We'll help clean up!" Makoto offered.

"We should help too.  OZ never would've attacked if we weren't hiding there," Quatre pointed out.

"What I'm wondering is, how did they know our location?" Wufei asked.

"They probably followed us last night.  I'm sorry.  I didn't think to look," Ami apologized.

"It's not your fault Ami.  It could've happened to any one of us," Duo said.

"Our main problem now is what to do with you.  We can't risk OZ hunting any of us down.  They'd kill the three of you, then probably use us for some sort of science experiment," Minako explained.

"Then the only solution is for us to continue on our mission, and to make sure OZ knows about it," Quatre said.  "We're going to space."

Ami was quiet.  She understood that Duo couldn't stay.  He'd be hunted down and killed for sure.  And she couldn't go with him, for risk that situations on Earth might worsen.  But she only just got him back, she didn't want to lose him now.

"We have Treize's whereabouts, we should take care of him first," Wufei answered.

"Don't you get what kind of risk you'll be facing?" Makoto asked.

"We've been facing that risk for years.  But we don't want to put you in danger," Quatre explained.

"But…"

"We understand," Rei finished before there could be any more protests.  "The least we can do is get you to the spaceport.  You'll be gone by tomorrow morning."

_Tomorrow morning_, Duo thought.  He'd be off again, and he might never see Ami again.  But he knew that this was what had to be done.

"Duo? Are you coming?" Ami asked quietly.  The others were already outside.

"Yeah…" he answered, standing up.  "You know Ami, if it were up to me, I wouldn't leave you here like this."

"I know you wouldn't.  I'd go with you, you know," she murmured.

"Nah…you'd hate it.  You're better off fighting cool monster bad guys, instead of guys with guns," he smiled weakly.  "I still feel bad about your apartment though."

"I'll explain it to my mother.  I don't think she'll mind if she knows you got away safely," Ami replied.  Taking his hand, she led him outside.

Traveling in four different vehicles, they eventually arrived at the spaceport.  They decided to travel to three different locations to avoid being followed.  Quatre left first, then Wufei, then finally, it was time for Duo to leave.

"Ami?  We'll wait in the car," Minako replied as they left the two alone.

"So…this is it," Duo said, trying to mask the sadness in his voice.

"Yeah," Ami answered.  "Will I ever see you again?" 

"Of course!  Come on, you're acting like I'm going off to war or something!" he said wryly.

Ami couldn't help but smile as she embraced him.  "Be careful."

"Ami, am I ever careful?" he asked.

"No, you always get caught," she answered, then kissed him.

When he finally pulled away, Ami couldn't help but notice the tears in his eyes.  "I'm coming back alive Ami.  I promise."

"Duo…I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too, Ami," he replied.

And like that, he was gone.

**************************************************************************************************************************

THREE YEARS LATER

Ami sat on a bench in the park, typing on her laptop.  She pretended not to notice as a shadow loomed over her.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaailor Mercuryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy," it hissed menacingly.

Trying not to smile, she kept her face turned to the screen.  "You're late, you know."

"Ssssssssssss," it hissed.

Giggling, she pulled out a gun and turned around, firing it at her attacker.

"Aw!  No fair!" he cried as the icy water sprayed all over him.  

"If you can impersonate my enemies, I can impersonate yours," Ami replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but at least they use warm water!" he snapped.

"Here, I'll make it better," Ami grinned, standing up and throwing her arms around his neck.  "I missed you so much Duo!"

"Finally you pay a little attention to me!" he said, sounding hurt.  Then the grin crossed his face as he lifted her up.  "Now I can carry you off to…um…"

"How about my house?  It's been remodeled," Ami asked.  

"To your house!" Duo exclaimed.  "But can we stop at McDonald's along the way?  I'm starving!"

Ami laughed.  Maybe, just maybe, three years wasn't that long.

**************************************************************************************************************************

Aw…wasn't that cute?  And now there's closure.  YAY CLOSURE!  R+R!


End file.
